The idea is to use the abandon stations you clear out during game play, this makes them stop being useless waste of space(plus not something you will try to re-raid for the no icon ones) and make them worth your time.

How will it work:
*when you clear a station of hostiles AI companion One hacks it and puts it your faction.

*Either when a AI worker bot research or a faction is befriended I.E the pirates for the pop. you can loan the stations and they will work them.

*The stations can be given roles (farm, mine+type, factory+type, spaceport), and when these stations are worked they mostly any-other economic station but pay rent to you + other benefits

*What about "Workerbots"? This should be a flavor research that makes so you don't have to befriend any one plus make food factory to feed worker, but require parts to fix them self. Maybe special power hungry AI rooms on ships to get away from finding crew for them.

*Beside getting rid of abandon stations and getting a few creds where else can this idea go?
Friendly factions can make their own ships(with a space port and finsed resources) and help you by either being help in a fight or slightly Blo.. messy ship trade. Make the pirates feel like they pull their own weight instead being help by you every where and you are actually taking over the system instead of grinding face against enemys till you win.

*The best parts of this can be a regular soures of ore(mining station ore tax), more use for crystal genes(when put seed on mining or not station runs a sim for how much resource is produced and this how it goes (stationtype% *crystal time accelerated Average)*time or roughly so) Even if the station is not mining it still can produce raw ore at a lesser efficiency. A more lived in world/dynamic. and filler for the dead space stations.

Small details
*mines of different type produce more or less based on belt their in I.E gold dose better in gold rich belt, iron poor belt make less(mine ships have go further/harder to extract ore) this where crystal gene help or cope.
*End of chain resource can make ships and Etc(if want more) more efficient than just ore convert to ship.
*take over other faction stations
*when you full econ going maybe can upgrade station?
*Maybe a grey goo station that slow to replenish and need gold,iron,titanium and rhodium to make(unique reactor boom chamber need those to be consonantly repaired), also grey goo enhances other stations. so good to make if you excess raw.

There is more that can be done with this idea, i don't have time or skill to do it, so do with it as you please.(recomed you do a lot of this with background spreadsheets to not lag the game if some one goes big)